San Francisco's parking cops collectively issue more than three tickets every minute - a big business that will become even more lucrative starting today when higher fines kick in for most violations.

In the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, revenue from parking fines pumped about $90 million into city coffers. Officials predict the amount will balloon to $103 million this year with the stiffer penalties.

More than 1.9 million tickets were handed out last year, with nearly 1 in 3 citations issued for parking in a street-cleaning zone. That carries a $50 penalty starting today.

For all tickets under $90, an extra $10 was tacked on to help balance the budget of the Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Municipal Railway, traffic control and parking operations.

After street cleaning, the most common reasons for getting a ticket are meter violations - now a $60 fine in the downtown corridor and $50 in neighborhood commercial districts - and overtime parking in residential permit areas, a $60 penalty.

"It's going to hit low-income people the hardest. The tickets are already expensive," said Clementina Kennedy, who said she recently moved from San Francisco to Burlingame in part to get away from the parking headaches.

She was back in the city Thursday for an administrative hearing to protest a $60 ticket she got last fall for parking in a yellow zone, which is reserved for commercial vehicles during certain hours.

She didn't deny she parked there; she told the hearing officer that she wasn't aware the curb was painted yellow. The hearing officer told her he'd review the case and send her written notice of his decision.

Ben Volper is a ticket magnet, racking up more than $1,000 worth of fines a year, mainly for street cleaning violations, he said. At 25, unemployed and living in Pacific Heights, he isn't happy that he'll have to reach deeper into his pocket now. "But that's part of living in the city, I guess. It's frustrating."

The higher fines also have caught the attention of the men and women who issue the tickets.

"There is concern," said James Hudson, who has worked as a parking control officer in San Francisco for 13 years. "With the economic situation the way it is today, an extra $10 can make a difference. You never know what will set people off and send them over the edge."

Hudson, who wears a bulletproof vest, said he's been shot at with pellet guns twice, once when he was investigating what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle, once when he was writing tickets in Chinatown. Neither time was he injured.

Nathaniel Ford, who runs the Municipal Transportation Agency, is well aware that the fine increases have some of his citation-issuing workforce on edge.

On Thursday he and a representative from the district attorney's office held a news conference to get out the word that no matter how irate or frustrated drivers may become over a parking ticket, they shouldn't take it out on parking control officers.

"They're just doing their job, a tough job," Ford said.

In 2006, the city recorded 28 assaults aimed at parking control officers; last year the number fell to 14. So far this year, there have been three. Ford attributed the drop in attacks to a state law passed last year that doubled the fine for such an offense to $2,000 and a vow by San Francisco police and prosecutors to give high priority to the cases.

Union representatives for the parking control officers showed up at Ford's news conference to complain that not all their members have adequate training on how best to avoid or defuse confrontations with angry motorists. Ford acknowledged the shortcoming. He said new hires are getting the training first, and that he expects veteran workers will by year's end.

New funds to benefit Municipal Transportation Agency

A number of parking fines will go up starting today. The increases will help the city balance the budget of the Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Muni and oversees parking operations. Last year, parking fines raised $90 million for the city. After these increases, that will go up to $103 million this fiscal year, officials say.

Violation

Citations issued FY 2008

Old fine

New fine

Street cleaning

662,533

$40

$50

Parking meter

335,575

$40

$50

Residential permit zone

206,661

$50

$60

Parking meter (downtown)

195,722

$40

$60

Block wheels

44,453

$35

$45

Source: City and county of San Francisco

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